Cautiously Celebrating

It’s been 3 months to the day since I committed to doing a book project. I didn’t actually get to start right away, but still. It seems rather fitting that I got to a very important point today, and totally finished the ebook, bonuses, and membership site.

I went through the entire setup one final time, made another test sale, then filled out the application to become a vendor on Clickbank. (If you’re not familiar with them, they are probably the biggest marketplace for digital products online, and the workings behind a huge share of ebooks and membership sites.)

It will take 3-5 business days before I know if my application was accepted, so I figure it will be sometime next week before I get word. I have plenty to do while I’m waiting, since this is only the first, albeit most intense, part of the project.

So what’s left after the entire product is completed, wrapped up and ready to go?

Marketing.

It doesn’t do any good to have a wonderful product if no one knows about it! So that’s next on my agenda. I have a course to finish on marketing on the big G’s Display Network, and another for marketing on Facebook to help in that area.

Other methods, I already know, like using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to help drive organic traffic (in other words, free traffic, which really isn’t free unless you have a LOT of time to spend on it yourself, so you have to use outsource workers and special software). And of course, there’s paid traffic like Google AdWords and Yahoo’s ads.

I’m borrowing a copy of Jess’s Microsoft Project to help me keep things sorted. The only trouble with that is I need to learn something else new!

And once again, that is definitely fodder for another post, and one that will be forthcoming soon (I hope). As I went through the process today I printed copies of all the online pages and email messages that are needed before someone actually gets their ebook and becomes part of the membership site. It’s amazing how many different pieces all had to fit together for this to work correctly.

Now to fit the next pieces together, with building up the sites ranking and doing the marketing. Too bad Microsoft Project won’t do all that magically for me!

In the meantime, I’ve kind of goofed off the latter part of this afternoon, and been reading a romance novel. It’s one of my favorite series, and I’ve had it for some time. I’ve been keeping it as a carrot dangling in front of my nose…. “When you finish the project, you can read the book!” Some days I wondered if I was ever going to get to read it!

Of course, in about 5 minutes, a seminar is starting that’s part of my second business model so I won’t get to finish the book until later. But I don’t want to rely on only one income stream so am refining a couple of others.

A woman’s work is never done.

Just one nodus after another. . .

nodus (NOH-duhs) plural nodi (NOH-dy) noun

MEANING: A complicated situation or problem. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nodus (knot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ned- (to bind), which is also the source of node, noose, annex, connect, ouch, nettle, and denouement.

Yep, that's me, I've been plagued by nodi the last 3 months! Actuallly, it hasn't been quite 3 months since I started this project, but it's getting mighty close. And I am sooooo close to being ready to 'go live'!

I have the book done. I have the bonus reports done. I have the sales page, and other necessary pages done. The membership site... well, as of today I think I've *finally* got it whipped. It has been a week in the making, but I think the vendor and membership softwares are now talking to each other correctly.

My last major hurdle is streaming video. I'm beginning to hate it. Unfortunately, I have 71 videos I need to put in on the membership site. I thought I'd put a link there and people watch the video and easy-peasy, right?

Ha! And again I say, HA!

First off, with that many videos, I can't reliably host them on my website. I ended up learning how to use Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service). Or at least, learning enough to get my videos uploaded and viewable and the links I need. (That's fodder for another post... on how many things I have had to learn to do this: how many videos I've watched, manuals I've read, research and reports and.... !!!)

Anyway, you can't just put the links on the site. You need a PLAYER for the video. And there's the rub.

I've looked at shareware but can't use it on a commercial site. I've looked at services for 'building' the players for each video, but there's a monthly fee. I looked at a whole lot of software, but wow! $90 a site, and for unlimited use anywhere from $1000-$2000.

I finally found a reasonably priced software that is supposed to work on html or php files (I'm using both), will work within a membership site, will work with mp4 files, and will also work with videos hosted on AS3.

But you caught that one little word didn't you? SUPPOSED to work. I've tried every combination I can think of for files, folders, server paths, etc. I've spent days trying to make this work. I've emailed support a dozen times.

It *looks* simple. And I get a nice player on the page... but it doesn't play the video! I've tried and tried and still no success. I work and work until I finally fall in bed exhausted when I can't focus my eyes any more to try something else.

To parapharase Thomas Edison, "I now know a thousand ways not to get a video to play."

But one of these days, and soon (I hope!), the light bulb is going to come on and those dadratted videos are going to play correctly!

And then, my friends, it's going to be time to 'party hearty dudes'!